I found this book fascinating! The authors discuss language development in children beginning before birth. Each chapter of the book is dedicated to a particular age range and within each chapter various language studies are discussed. They talk about how the studies are conducted, what was learned, and they include many real-life examples such as conversations between parents and their children. There is a lot of information packed in this book but the author has written it in such a way that it's easy to follow.

I now feel I have a much better understanding of how my baby's language skills are developing and what to expect as she gets older. I highly recommend checking this one out!

I found this book very reassuring and helpful. The chapters are only about five pages long and each one tackles a specific topic. The writing is straightforward and conversational in tone which makes it engaging and inviting. The book has four main sections: Parenting your Infant, Parenting your Toddler, Parenting your Preschooler, and Parenting Anytime. Many important topics are covered such as child development, whether or not newborns can be spoiled, breastfeeding, reading to your baby, discipline, thumb sucking, and toilet training. There is also an appendix that focuses on child development and an appendix with a list of resources by topic. As a new parent I found this book really helpful!

Bronson discusses in detail many important issues of parenting such as the following: how children are affected by praise, IQ testing, language development, how kids are affected by loss of sleep, and teen rebellion. Each chapter is dedicated to a specific topic. The discussions are backed up by the findings of numerous scientific studies and interviews which really help to clarify and solidify the point the author is making. In the chapter entitled The Inverse Power of Praise Bronson discusses how praising children may not have the consequences parents intend. Bronson shares the details of a study that focused on how children responded to being praised on their intelligence and how they responded when praised on their effort. The results of this study were striking. The children who were praised for their intelligence didn’t do well when they were challenged with more difficult tests while the children praised for their effort fared much better.

Throughout this book, I was surprised at how often the scientific studies yielded results I wouldn’t expect. I began to think differently about many different aspects of parenting and education. I think this book offers useful information for parents and educators.

"The primary focus of this book is on how developmental stages and behaviors show up in group child care situations." It contains developmental descriptions and activities for children birth through eight years. The activities are clearly described and depend on simple materials. While the author intends this book to be a source of ideas for preschool/school staff and home child care providers, parents will find this a useful book to plan activities at home. More importantly, here we have descriptions of excellent child care settings so the information is very valuable to parents evaluating child care situations for their children. Easily understood summaries of child development research adds to the usefulness of the book. Illustrations would have improved the presentation, but this book is highly recommended for teachers, child care providers, and parents.

Play is children's work. Current research in children's brain development is proving that the most important parts of a child's world are play and meaningful relationships with adults, but Mr. Rogers knew this a long time ago: "When children play, they're working. They're working on learning about themselves, about other people, and about the world around them. Playtime is one of the most important times for children to learn and grow."

Mister Roger's PLAY TIME offers general advice about playtime and specific suggested activities about Sharing and Caring, Pretend Play, Helping, Things That Go, Feelings, Creative Fun, and Nature and Science. Each activity includes a list of materials, a description of the activity, and a summary of the skills that can be learned.

Activities are simple and inexpensive (many use recycled items). There is an index by name and type of activity. Parents of preschoolers will find many sources of family fun here.

Jill Stamm provides information about early childhood development and how parents can support their children's development from birth to age 3. She refers to multiple scientific studies to establish and clarify her points. She also discusses popular ideas such as the idea that having your young child listen to classical music will increase their IQ. In this case she discusses the study that this information originated from and how it has been mistakenly, in her opinion, applied to children. She gives parents/caregivers many ideas to support the development of their children. The book is informative, well organized, and provides a lot of practical advice.